Did you know?
There are 14 different species of hedgehog around the world.
The hedgehog in the UK is the European hedgehog
Hedgehogs live for 2-5 years in the wild, but some have lived to be 10
An adult hedgehog has 7,000 spines and a small hidden tail. The spines are made of keratin the same as our hair and nails
Babies are born in May and leave the nest 4 weeks later
Baby hedgehogs are called hoglets
They have long legs and can run as fast as we can walk
They are called hedgehogs because- hedge for where they live and hog for the snuffling, squeaks they make
What do they eat?
Beetles
Slugs
Snails
Worms and other invertebrates
What to do if you want them to visit your garden:
You need lots of creepy crawlies- these can be attracted by planting a variety of different plants, creating log piles and leaving an area of the lawn to grow long and a bit wild
Create a Hedgehog Highway so they can roam between gardens. You need a hole in surrounding fences 13cm by 13cm
Don’t use slug pellets or pesticides in the garden
If you have a pond make a little escape ladder so they can get out if they fall in, they can swim but if they are in too long they will get tired and die
You could even make a hedgehog house or buy one online, so they have somewhere to hibernate when the weather gets colder
Provide shallow bowls of water around the garden
Leave cat/dog food for them, never leave milk as they are intolerant of it
To find out more visit
www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk
www.wildgardens.org.uk
www.ptes.org
www.hedgehogstreet.org